HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam International Trade Fair 2017 is one of the largest scale trade promotion events for Việt Nam’s foreign trade, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Trần Quốc Khánh, said yesterday at the opening of the 27th Việt Nam Expo.

The three-day event at the Cultural Friendship Palace in Hà Nội “provides practical opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to increase exports and expand domestic markets,” he said.

The Việt Nam International Trade Fair 2017, themed “Strengthening Regional and International Economic Links”, has attracted more than 500 exhibitors from 16 provinces and cities in Việt Nam and from 23 countries and territories.

“In the context of global economic fluctuations, Việt Nam’s increasing engagement in free trade agreements has opened up great opportunities for domestic and international businesses. Therefore, the message of the fair’s organisers to Vietnamese and international businesses is embracing opportunities to co-operate and co-develop,” Khanh said.

He added that this year, the Republic of Korea (RoK) joins Việt Nam Expo as an honoured nation, marking joint effort to implement the free trade agreement (FTA) signed in 2015 between the two countries.

RoK Ambassador Lee Hyuk told Việt Nam News that Korea had been one of Viet Nam’s three largest trading partners and its top foreign investor. This year also marks the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Việt Nam and Korea, laying the foundation for more trading and investments.

“Trade relations between the two countries are being strongly promoted. We hope that in the future, the Vietnamese Government will pay more attention to the improvement of the investment environment through administrative reforms and customs simplification,” Hyuk said.

He added that Korea was represented at the Expo by 130 companies with 138 display booths, presenting electrical and electronic products, cosmetics, smart toys and processed food.

“We are very grateful to Việt Nam Expo 2017 for creating opportunities for us to meet with local buyers and investors, thus expanding our opportunities for exchanges and investment,” Jeon Gwang Pyo, assistant manager of the sales department of Partron Vina, an affiliate of the South Korea-based technology group and also a vendor of Samsung Electronics, told Việt Nam News.

A joint “Korea-Việt Nam Design Sharing Pavilion” is also one of the event’s features. Some 2,000 customers visited it in 2016 and more than 600 deals were made.

The booth displayed impressive designs to serve customers under a programme titled “Korea-Việt Nam Design Sharing”, coordinated by the Việt Nam Trade Promotion Department and the Korea Institute of Design Promotion, which has been in operation since 2010 and provided support for 3,500 participating companies. There were also free consultations provided to local companies on market demand surveys, ideas’ development, branding and packaging. — VNS